A man makes chapatis at his stall in Namugongo at the Catholic Shrine during the Martyrs' Day celebrations last week. PHOTO/MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
On June 3, 2025, thousands of pilgrims worldwide gathered in Uganda to commemorate Uganda Martyrs’ Day. It was a busy time for the business community at both the Namugongo Catholic Shrine and the Anglican site. Many enterprising individuals seized the opportunity, setting up businesses strategically to meet the needs and demands of the pilgrims.
Vendors, hawkers, and peddlers camped along the streets that led to both Namugongo and Nakiyanja from May 28, 2025 right from Kireka, Naalya, Kyaliwajjala, Namugongo, and the surrounding areas as food vendors, clothes sellers, merchandise, property masters, leisure and pressure, electronics, among other businesses, to trap the pilgrims marching to Namugongo.
Pilgrims buy rosaries at the Catholic Shrine in Namugongo during this year's Martyrs' day celebrations. PHOTO/MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
According to the State Minister for Tourism, Mr Martin Mugarra, through a report on visitor analysis at the two shrines, this year about 2.5 to 3 million people were part of the Martyrs’ Day activities, from different sites with 689,637 pilgrims last year.
This population increase poses a significant economic opportunity for the business fraternity to cash in on the needs of the pilgrims.
If each of the 3 million pilgrims had at least Shs30,000 to spend while at Namugongo, this is equivalent to Shs90 billion in revenue from this annual event.
Food selling
Monday Ssekiwunga, chapati seller, stationed inside Namugongo Catholic site, told dm Money that he registered a significant success in the profit he earned a day from chapati selling compared to the last three years.
“I made a profit of Shs250,000 a day; a significant increase from last year’s sales where I earned Shs150,000 in profit,” Mr Ssekiwunga says.
Ms Joan Naluwoza, a food vendor in Nansana Kiyembe, dealing with all kinds of foods, such as matooke, rice, cassava, millet, and source [beans, meat, ground nuts, and chicken], also said this year's celebration brought her higher profits, motivating her to work even harder. Due to the high demand for food, she often stayed up through the night to keep up with customer needs.
“In a day, we cooked food over three to four times as it gets consumed; the demand for food was higher than expected. So, I could not sleep for the last four days I spent in Namugongo,” Ms Naluwoza said.
Growing demand for jerrycans
Each year, the demand for jerrycans continues to rise as pilgrims seek to collect holy water from the sacred lakes of Namugongo and Nakiyanja—sites revered by Catholics and Anglicans, respectively.
According to the faithful, this holy water is believed to aid in healing various illnesses. It also serves as a source of blessings, and can also be used for drinking.
Solomon Mwanje, a seasonal jerrycan seller who was stationed at the Nakiyanja Anglican site, from Wobulenzi in the Luweero district, says he started selling jerrycans in 2022. He has significantly developed and now employs four people to sell the jerrycans to the pilgrims.
“I started my journey of selling jerrycans in 2022 after the Covid–19 pandemic; God was on my side am standing up to now. I started with the capital of Shs100,000, where I used to sell only a four-litre jerry can at Shs2,000,” Mr Mwanje said.
Pilgrims collect water from the drums using jerrycans that cost between Shs2,000 and Shs3,000. PHOTO/MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
He added that, since last year, he has expanded his business and invested over Shs2 million, which enables him to make a profit of up to Shs300,000 daily.
“This year, I have expanded. I can now employ five people who traverse different sections of Namugongo to tap the possible income, hence helping our expansion. Then we added 10 and 20-litre jerrycans, selling each at Shs4,000 and Shs6,000, respectively,” he said.
Inside the Catholic Shrine, there was a designated business hub with a variety of religious artifacts for sale. These included: Bibles, Catholic magazines, church calendars, rosaries, holy crosses, souvenirs of Mother Mary, holy water, Catholic clothes, candles, and roses, among others.
Mr Martin Lukooya, dealing in selling Catholic items, said that although there was an influx of pilgrims this year, his merchandise did not sell out as expected compared to the previous year. Lukooya stated that last year he made about Shs1 million in profit daily, which is contrary to this year, with half of that at Shs500,000.
“Last year, when the Nebi Catholic Diocese was in charge of the mass, I got many customers buying the holy religious items, and the demand was so high. But this year, although the number of pilgrims was overwhelming, they bought few items,” Mr Lukooya said.
Ms Betty Lwanjaga, another dealer in Catholic stock, pointed out that despite a significant increase in pilgrims this year, she had very few customers. She attributes the low sales to widespread poverty and heightened security measures, which she believes distracted many potential buyers and limited their ability to make purchases.
“This year, the security precautions have blocked many potential customers from accessing the premises. I paid money to be in this place, but it is unfair that our items did not sell out as expected,” Ms Lwanjaga explained.
“We ask the government to be considerate to our businesses when they are putting in blockades. It will not make sense for us to invest money but fail to achieve profit,” she said.
Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities estimates suggest that between 2.5 and 3 million people participated in Martyrs' Day activities this year, including those within and around pilgrimage sites. This is in comparison to the 690,000 who attended the celebrations at both the Catholic and Anglican sites in 2024. In 2024, the festival is estimated to have generated between Shs22.8 billion and Shs38.1 billion in visitors’ revenue.
